When all else fails
by KittentheCat
Summary: Ava Summer's saved her nephew but now, trapped in Zombie invested Atlanta, all seems lost. The last thing she expected to see was someone alive never mind them pointing a crossbow at her. DarylxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I was supposed to be reviewing and doing work for my exams when I got the urge to write and this started. In my other Daryl Fic - Between Walkers, Brothers and Guns – I started before the beginning so I had more time to 'establish' a relationship, I think I will delay the movement of the group to the CDC somehow, anyway, enjoy!**

Atlanta, refuge from the infection or so it was supposed to be. With the quick demise of the military, the infection got to Atlanta and its people turning the survivors into what they had feared so. Ava Summers glared from behind the curtains of the apartment out to the city. When the infection came and claimed Atlanta there was no hope of her getting out alive or intact, especially with her nephew to care for, so she had simply barricaded a flat, going out when and if they needed supply's always armed and always returning to the small boy who hid in the bathtub while she left.  
>Ava sighed and turned away from window, pulling the curtain back to hide their existence, the world had known was gone, there was nothing she could to but survive and pray that something would save at least her nephew if not both of them.<p>

She slightly walked into her room, smiling softly at the boy sleeping in a circle in the middle of the bed. Quietly, as if not to wake him, Ava approached the bed and sat on the edge, leaning over to stroke the boys blond hair, a trait that he had inherited from both his father and Ava's side of the family. She scowled slightly, not liking how his dirty worn cloths hung around the eight-year-olds frame, he was losing too much weight without sweets, and Ava made a mental note to get him some sweets on her next raid even though she hated leaving him without the certainty of returning to him.

"Aunt Ava?" the young voice croaked as he rolled over, his small face covered in freckles and he rubbed his tired sore eyes.  
>"Yeah sweetie?" she smiled pushing his hair again.<br>"I'm hungry, when can we have dinner?" he asked yawning.  
>"We can have it now," she smiled at him before standing and leaving the boy to roll around in the blankets.<p>

Ava glared at the empty kitchen. They had run out of supplies. Again. The boy watched from the doorway as his Aunt strode over to the coffee table in the middle of the room, the one that he wasn't allowed near, and started to play with all her sharp objects.  
>Ava arranged her knifes and gun, making sure she had enough weapons but enough agility still to survive.<br>"Are you leaving again?" Ava's head snapped up at the frightened voice from the doorway.  
>"Come here, Kyle," She smiled as the boy shuffled over to her.<br>"I'll be back soon, I promise." She smiled as he knelt next to her in front of the coffee table. Kyle looked unconvinced.  
>She leaned over and kissed her nephew's head, "You know the drill, I'll see you soon."<br>Watching Kyle sadly shuffle into the bathroom, Ava smiled sadly, she hated to upset him but she had to if they wanted to eat.

/

She had been on her way to of the kitchens in the building, gun ready, when she had first heard the psychotic raving from the roof. Biting out a curse, Ava knew she had to think fast if she wanted to live to see Kyle again, the shouts would attract any walkers she hadn't killed in the building to them, that's if they weren't looters. Wincing at the memory of the last looters, a group of violent men who she had managed to wrestle of the window to save herself and Kyle, Ava did not want to deal with that trauma again.

The rancid smell of searing flesh invaded her senses, clogging her nose and clinging to the roof of her mouth making Ava gag. She stopped, hearing voices arguing ahead of her, they seemed to be all men, arguing over someone who was apparently responsible for the god awful smell.  
>"Guys you hear that?" A timid voice came from the kitchen.<br>Ava's breath hitched in her throat pushing her back against the wall.  
>"Shurrup Chink," A deeper, angry voice snapped, "We don need yo paranoia, we got more important issues!"<br>While they argued amongst themselves, Ava decided that coming back later for food, when these men had gone would be more beneficial. Taking a step away from the wall, she winced as some stray glass crunched beneath her boot.  
>"You heard that?" The timid voice hissed. Ava held still, her hand twitching beside her gun. She could kill these men without remorse easily, it had been her job after all before the world when to hell as English military personal, the only things she regretted was that Kyle had seen this side of her.<br>Listening closely, Ava heard one of the men advancing to her position, the others quieted as though they expected something dramatic to happen.  
>Ava watched, gun now in hand, as a man slowly advanced around the corner, his own gun stretched out in front of him. The woman titled her head in confusion when she saw his sheriff uniform, she had been sure they were all dead. The man turned in her direction and froze, his eyes wide at finding someone seemingly alive in the waste of Atlanta.<br>"Miss?" He called out, probably unsure of whether he was hallucinating or not and Ava resisted the urge to snigger as she said nothing. Angry stomps echoed around the corner before a lean young blonde man with a crossbow emerged.  
>"The fuck you playing at?" The blonde man snapped at the sheriff, seemingly oblivious to Ava for the moment. The sheriff nodded his head towards Ava, who was still stood still and silent, and the blonde man swung his head around to stare at what had been distracting the officer. Biting out a curse the blonde man raised his cross bow at Ava, ready to shoot.<br>Ava's gun hand swung up, aiming between the vest-clad man's chest.  
>"Daryl don't!" The Sherriff snapped, pushing down on the crossbow so it aimed at the floor. The man, who appeared to be named Daryl, quickly raised his weapon once more, disreguarding what the officer had told him in favour of protecting himself. If she had a weapon aimed at him, why not him at her?<p>

"Daryl." The officer hissed in warning as two more men joined them from the other room. A tall, thick armed black man and a smaller, nervous looking Asian man with a cap. Ava cursed inwardly, the situation was not working in her favour, and yes she could probably take three of them down in hand-to-hand combat but the blonde's crossbow made the equation difficult. All men seem surprised by her presence.  
>"Mam, are you hurt?" The officer asked her. Ava shook her head but made no move to lower her weapon.<br>"You see a guy run through here?" Daryl asked, glaring at her accusingly from behind his crossbow, "He's my brother we're looking for him."

"You are the first living people I have seen come through here in a while." Ava spoke eventually, both her and Daryl's weapons still raised.  
>"In a while?" The young Asian masked asked, "There were more?"<br>Ava nodded to them, "Were."  
>The expressions of the men darkened knowing it meant they people were most likely dead.<br>"Don' care bout no other dead fuckers," Daryl snapped, "Where's ma brother?"  
>"How should I know? I haven't seen him." Ava spoke calmly. Daryl growled at her as the all black man, and Ava realised she only knew one of their names, cleared his throat.<p>

"How are you alive? Are you alone?" The man asked her.  
>"I'm alive because I was trained to survive and I fail to see how any other potential survivors would be of interest to you." Ava spoke calmly once more, not wanting to overly annoy the Cross-bow baring man.<br>The sheriff opened his mouth to say something when the Asian man jumped in.  
>"You're English aren't you?" He asked, as through trying to calm the conversation so they could speak rationally.<br>"What's that got to do with anything?" Both weapon wielders snapped at him making the man shift his cap and mumble about him simply making an observation.  
>"Mam," The officer said, catching Ava's attention, "We're just passing through, looking for a friend of ours, we don't want any trouble. Are you alone? We have a camp; you could come back with us."<br>This perked her interest.  
>"Really? Is it secure?" Ava asked, her weapon lowering slightly.<p>

Daryl glared at the Sherriff, obviously not trusting the woman.  
>"Yes it is, I'm Rick Grimes," He introduced, extending his hand.<br>Ava put her gun in her back waistband before shaking his hand, "Ava Summers."  
>"This is Glenn," Rick said gesturing to the Asian man, who smiled nervously, "And this is T-Dog." Rick gestured to the black man, who nodded his greeting.<p>

Daryl slowly lowered his bow, not trusting the woman entirely but not feeling the need to have the weapon point at her.  
>"So this friend of yours, he's running around one handed?" Ava asked.<br>"Thought you said you ain't seen him?" Daryl snapped, taking a step towards her.  
>"I haven't," Ava told him flatly, "I heard your conversation and can smell burnt flesh."<br>"Yeah, we need to find him, but we need our guns first." T-Dog told them, "And there stuck in walker central."  
>"We're all stuck in walker central," Ava corrected him, "there's someone I want you to take back to your camp."<br>"There's another survivor?" Rick asked, obviously stunned.  
>"Yes and he's hungry, so if you don't mind helping me take some food to my flat, you can use that to plot your gun route." Ava strode past them and into the kitchen. The men exchanged glanced before silently agreeing they should follow her, if she became a danger they were confident the four of them could handle her. <p>

The walk to back to the flat was silent and uneventful, Ava and the boys all keeping on high alert for walker activity. Quietly opening the door to the flat, Ava felt the front of her pocket, checking for her pen knife in case any of the men turned hostile.  
>"Kyle," Ava called out as she dropped some of the dry food packages on the counter, "Come out, I'm back." She dug around in the packages hoping to find some sweets for her nephew but simply frowned when she found none. The men stood awkwardly in the flat, glancing around and at each other, wondering who 'Kyle' was.<p>

Rick's eyes softened, like the emotional sap he was, when he saw the young boy run out from one of the adjoining rooms and throw his arms around Ava's hips. The boy looked up and for the first time noticed the strange men in the apart and without removing himself from his Aunt; he slipped around her so he was stood behind her, his face buried in the small of her back.

"Kyle," Ava smiled as she pulled him away just enough to crouch beside him, where he put him arms around her again, "These are some of my friends; Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl." Ava told the boy as she gestured to each man who stood there awkwardly, "Everyone this is my nephew Kyle."

Rick smiled, "You're holding on to your Aunt awful tight, you don't have to be scared we're not going to hurt you."  
>"I'm not scared of you," Kyle protested, "I'm just making sure you keep your hands of my Auntie."<p>

Ava and Daryl laughed loudly at Rick's embarrassed expression, seeing as he had just been told off by an eight-year-old.  
>"Would you believe he gets his lip from my side of the family?" Ava laughed as she stood up and stroked her nephew's hair affectionately before digging out some crackers form the food packages.<p>

"I can believe it," Daryl snorted as he advanced towards the coffee table chewing on his thumb nail, "Lot ah weapons for one lady." He commented as he lifted up a jagged hunting knife, swung it around slightly before sliding it into the holster on his leg.

Ava, who saw him messing about with the knife before attempting to sneakily take it, rolled her eyes at him before smiling at her nephew who had engaged a nervous Glenn in a staring contest.

"Perks of the job." Ava smiled as she poured the dry food substances onto plates.  
>"You a cop?" Daryl asked as he scanned the various melee weapons on the table and hoping that he wasn't going to be trapped with two cops, a chick, a kid and the douche that trapped his brother.<br>"No, not a cop," Ava told them, "I worked for the Army, in England obviously, and was on leave when my brother asked me to fly out and take Kyle back to England but I never got that far, obviously."

"Isn't the infection there?" Glenn asked, breaking from his competition with Kyle to stare at Ava with excitement? Hope? Ava wasn't too sure what it was but she knew she had to crush it.

"It wasn't, not at first anyway," Ava began to explain, "that's why I was able to fly out, if it was a problem I would have been on the front lines wouldn't I?"

"So what happened?" T-Dog asked and Ava's eyebrow twitched in annoyance when she felt all their gazes on her, she had always hated being the centre of attention.  
>"Kyle go wash up for dinner," Ava told her nephew and the boy ran of dutifully to use the some of the packages wet-wipes to wash his face and hand in the other room, his Aunt felt no need for him to relive this.<p>

Once she was sure Kyle was out of earshot Ava continued, quietly, "I got out here and everything seemed okay until I got to Jonathan's house, my brother and Kyle's father."

"Weren't they there or somethink?" Daryl asked, feigning disinterest.  
>"He was there alright," Ava sighed, "Hanging by his jugular out my sister-in-laws mouth," They collectively ignored Glenn's involuntary whimper of disgust, "I shot her, right between the eyes, ran to Kyle's room, he'd barricaded himself in, chucked his things in his bag and had to shoot my re-animated brother on the way out."<p>

Ava closed her eyes and willed back the moisture from her eyes. The men were silent all feeling a great empathy for her, even Daryl who wished he hadn't opened his trap and asked anything.  
>"I managed to safe Kyle's next door neighbour from her parents, we came to Atlanta because it was <em>safe<em>, safe my ass! The girl was only four years old, I tried, I did, I tried so hard but by the time I got to her she was already infected if not dead…I saved from her parents just to bring her to her death."

Silence hung heavy and for a while they all suspected they would choke on the tension and desperation that circled within it until Kyle emerged from the other room, stood in front of his Aunt and presented his clean face and outstretched hands to her.

Ava smiled at his, the previous agony on her face gone within a moment, painted over with fake happiness. Daryl watched from his position near the coffee table, he respected this woman a lot it was obvious she'd had to fight walkers and humans alike, including her own family, watched a small girl die and thought it was her fault and she hadn't been afraid of having a cross bow in her face all for the sake of her nephew.  
>"So you guys are going to brave walker central for some guns?" Ava asked as she sat down cross legged on her sofa, her nephew stopping his staring assault on Glenn for the moment so he come and sit next to her. Glenn and T-Dog each took a chair and Rick sat on the end of the sofa next to Kyle, Daryl stood between the two chairs T-Dog and Glenn occupied, opposite to Ava.<p>

"Or you could just gi' us yours." Daryl smirked.  
>Ava smirked back, "Sorry mine stays with us." She told them as she leaned forward and took a cracker off one of the plates of food that were now on the coffee table.<br>"That's not vera carin' an' sharin' of ya," Daryl commented.  
>"Well I'm not going to use the only two bullets I have in case I <em>need <em>them." Ava told them.  
>The men hushed, realising that the young women meant she was saving them in case there was no escape for her and her nephew and she had to end their lives in a less painful manner.<p>

"You're welcome to stay here for the night; it's safer for you to get your guns in the day." Ava told them when she felt her nephew slump against her side asleep.

Rick thanked her and the other nodded in agreement. Ava stood, leaving Kyle on the sofa for the moment as she went into the other room to find some blankets for her guest. She hummed as she tugged the blankets out of the cupboard, she knew she was taking a risk by trusting these guys but if it meant she could get her nephew somewhere safe she would do whatever it took. She scoffed at her own thoughts, safe was an obsolete term.

The ex-military woman's head snapped around when the bedroom door opened.  
>"I hope you don't mind," Rick said as he entered with Kyle asleep in his arms, "I just thought I could bring him in to help you."<br>"Thank you," Ava told him simply as she gathered the extra blankets in her arms.  
>"I have a son," Rick told her as he gently placed Kyle on the bed, "Carl, I'd do anything for him, like I know you'd do anything for Kyle."<br>"If you have a point, get to it." Ava told him before shooting him a small smile so he would not think of her as rude, she was, and always had been a very direct individual.

"My point is," Rick continued as he pulled some cover up over Kyle the same way he would to Carl, "It's somewhere safe for you and him. You'll be okay."

It warmed Ava's heart to know that there were still people left like Rick in the world, no matter how broken the world was, but having been trained to not show fear nor weakness, Ava simply nodded in response to him but Rick knew his words had filtered through.

Throwing the plain black blankets at T-Dog, Glenn and Rick, who had followed Ava back into the main room of the flat, Ava turned to Daryl with a dangerous smirk.  
>The blonde man raised an eyebrow both at her, which made Ava scold herself to stop from drooling, she wasn't supposed to find strangers sexually appealing!<br>Smiling, she pulled the last spare blanket out from behind her back. A bright pink child's blanket featuring Dora the Explorer.  
>Glenn and T-Dog bit their lips to capture their laughter, Rick smirked and Daryl scowled opening his mouth to protest but not being able to do so when Ava threw the blanket at him and hurried her goodnights as she fled to her and Kyle's bedroom, shutting the door behind her, leaving the men to debate the use of the pink blanket because she knew Daryl wouldn't use it.<p>

With a sigh Aurora slipping into the free side of the bed, gently stroking her sleeping nephew's face as she dared to let her mind wonder to thoughts of this 'camp' the men talked about and Kyle being safe.

**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ava gasped as she sprang up from her light sleep; she snatched her gun from the bedside table and swung it around to aim at the disturbance of her sleep. She glared at the silhouetted figure in her room, growling when she heard the click of a cross bow.  
>"What the fuck do you want?" Ava hissed, hoping that Kyle wouldn't stir because of the intrusion.<br>"Toilet." Daryl's voice, heavy with sleep, grunted through the darkness of the room.  
>"You take a crossbow to the toilet?" she asked, her gun never wavering from where his voice came.<br>"You take a gun to bed?" he answered, annoyance clear in his tone.  
>"Touché," Ava smirked as she put her gun back on the side table loud enough for Daryl to hear but not wake Kyle, "Hope you're not expecting running water or anything fancy." Ava told him as she shuffled back down into her bed and relaxed next to the slumbering form of her nephew as Daryl grunted and shuffled into the bathroom.<p>

Ava lay back in the bed listening to Daryl's movements in the bathroom, not to stalk but out of post-apocalyptic instinct. The woman gently moved some of Kyle's hair away from his face, making a mental note to give him a haircut when an opportunity presented itself, before slipping silently out of the bed and taking her gun from the side table and hiding it in the waist band of her sleep shorts. She walked slowly around the bed, her fingers on the edge so she didn't walk into the frame, listening as the bathroom door clicked before opening slowly, Daryl's footsteps padded along the floor towards her, both of them aware of the others movements.

"Why are you outta bed?" Daryl asked his crossbow held ready in his hand, if it had been his decision he wouldn't have trusted the woman, it was distracting them from finding Merle.  
>"Are you the sleep police?" Ava smiled into the darkness though Daryl couldn't see this.<p>

"Just 'cus you got crackers and a kid don't mean ah'm gonna trust ya." Daryl spat into the darkness. "And just because you have a few arrows doesn't mean that I am afraid of you." Ava remarked stepping forward and nudging Daryl into the direction of her bedroom door before following him out since she had wanted to leave but didn't trust the hick to be alone with her nephew while armed.

Daryl grunted as the pair walked back to the front room of the flat, falling back into the arm chair he had been sleeping in before the call of nature had woke him. Ava smiled, covering her mouth with her hand to contain her laughter when she saw Glenn sprawled out on the sofa tangled in the pink Dora the Explorer blanket, his mouth open in his sleep and his hat beside him from where it had fallen off.

"Suits him," Ava smirked at Daryl, he was leant back in the chair, chewing on his thumb nail as he watched the woman through sharp and suspicious eyes.  
>"So," Ava started, cursing herself for feeling foolish in her own hideaway as she tried to call on how to converse with adults, since it had been so long, "This camp, what's it like?"<br>Daryl rolled his eyes slightly, still biting down on his nails, "Just ah bunch ah wankers." He spat out.  
>Ava fought her smile as she pulled some hair behind her ear, "Is that a fact?"<br>Daryl simply nodded.  
>"And why pray tell, are they a bunch of wankers?" Ava asked as she leant against the wall near Daryl's chair.<br>"They came up here for some shit or other," Daryl told them, "Chained my brother up to the roof and fuckin' left him alive on the roof for the fuckin' walkers."  
>Ava was silent for the moment, how could she trust her nephew with people that could do something like that, she sighed, "Then you must know that there's not much chance of finding alive if he was left for the dead."<br>"Nah," Daryl spat out part of his nail, "that fucker there," he swung his arm in T-Dog's direction, "that fucker, being as smart as he is," he jabbed the side of his head, "locked the door so they couldn't even get to him, ma brother cut his own fuckin' hand cus ah what these bastards did ta him." Daryl growled.

"Why?" Ava asked quietly.  
>"What?" Daryl snapped, chewing the side of this thumbnail.<br>"Why did they leave him?"  
>Daryl snorted, "That fuckin' cop," He gestured to Rick was feigning sleep in the armchair across from him, "Said Merle was a fuckin' danger, the stupid bastard don't know wha' he was talkin' about."<p>

Ava glanced down at the floor, "I see no reason why he would lie about that."  
>"You on their fuckin' side?" Daryl snarled, his hand reaching down to his crossbow next to his chair.<br>Ava opened her mouth in response but quickly stopped herself, darting forwards to cover Daryl's mouth with one hand and turned the lamp off on the table beside the hunter with the other she 'shh'ed him. Daryl glared, his hands coming up to rip her hand away from him, seeing this, Ava dove forwards so that her body weight fell on him, basically straddling him as she tried to stop him making a noise.  
>"It's a geek!" T-Dog hissed into the darkness hoping that the source of the banging wouldn't hear him. Daryl's expression scrunched into a snarl as Ava removed her hand from his mouth and pressed a finger to her lips. He looked like he wanted to rip her apart. She returned the nasty look and made an attempt to lean back but froze when the chair creaked. She squeezed her eyes in frustration and held herself in place but the angle that she had lent was increasingly awkward so that Daryl had to hold onto her hips to stop her from falling back off of the chair and onto the floor.<p>

He glanced over at the others, ready to drop a glare on them if they dare give him a funny look. T-Dog stared at the door, his head wet with perspiration, and Rick stared intently at the bedroom door whiling Kyle to stay asleep like Glenn was still sprawled on the sofa under the pink blanket. Daryl narrowed his eyes again, god help the chink if he snored now. They sat like that for five minutes as they listened to the figure shuffle and moan down the hallway outside, occasionally banging into the walls. When the door at the end on the hallway banged shut Ava sighed and let herself relax. They'd have to look out for that bastard on their way out.  
>T-Dog let out a breath and fell back properly onto the chair, closing his eyes. Rick jumped up and quickly made his way to the bedroom, looking to check up on the small boy on the bed. Glenn snorted slightly and rolled in his sleep. Glancing up Ava smirked at Daryl's raised eyebrow, "Don't think this means you're getting lucky."<br>He rolled his eyes and pushed her off of him, Ava's smirk grew as she fell back into a crouch, her training had not been in vain after all. Ignoring his venomous look Ava went to check on her nephew to find him still asleep with Rick sat on the bed next to him.  
>"So, this camp, how'd you get there?" Ava asked as she crossed her arms and lent again the door frame.<br>Rick looked up at her, " I can't honestly give ya'll straight directions. I don't know the route but when the others wake up they can let ya'll know."  
>Ava nodded, "But you'll probably need help getting the guns."<br>Rick glanced down at Kyle's sleeping form, "What about the boy?"  
>Ava shrugged, "I'll make sure he's safe but if I need you guys to get to the camp then you need to survive and there's not much chance of you doing that without me."<br>Daryl's voice came from behind her, "You're full ah yasen ain't ya."  
>Ava didn't turn around to acknowledge him as he stood behind her, "It's not without reason."<br>Daryl looked between the woman and Rick, "If she wants ta get her hands dirty I'm fine with it, but the kids a fucking liability."  
>Ava turned to him and narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him, "<em>The kid<em> is my problem, he's knows to keep quiet and low and I taught him how to some weapons if necessary."  
>Rick stood from the bed, "I'm not happy about it but we need your help, the guns won't do much for the camp if no one knows how to use 'em."<br>Daryl grunted and walked back into the living room calling over his shoulder, "Get some sleep, we're goin' for Merle tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

"One wrong move and you'll get an arrow in the ass, just so you know." Daryl threatened the young man was sat on the floor. Ava shook her head she approached them, Kyle had stayed behind Rick just like she'd told him too and the men looked up at her expectantly.  
>"G's gonna take that arrow outta my ass and shove it up yours, just so you know." The boy, because he was barely a man, counted and Ava smirked and took the gun from T-Dog.<br>"I checked around, up near where I'll be theres a broken bit of wall, big even gap for Kyle to squeeze in so I can see him but they can't." She told them and took Kyle's hand in hers.  
>The boy looked a Kyle, "What kind of idiot brings a child to an exchange?"<br>Ava opened her mouth to snap at him but Kyle squeezed her hand and countered, "I'm not a child. You're going to get an arrow in your ass."  
>Ava grinned but quickly got rid of it as she scolded Kyle for his language as he helped him up the building while carrying the bag of guns. Daryl smirked, "Even the kid knows you're gon get it."<p>

Ava watched the men on the yard, her lip reading was bad but she was sure she'd seen Rick asked for a calm discussion. What kind of fairy-tale had he jumped out off? He needed to take off those rose-tinted glasses. She watched them closely, listening for any movement from Kyle or any secret attackers as she watched the surprisingly calm leader berate Daryl.  
>"I have one of yours, you have one of mine." Rick reasoned.<br>"My people got attacked, where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns." G asked. Hidden with Kyle, you asshole.  
>She saw G turn to look at her through her scope and resisted the urge to smile and wave before pushing it back down inside of her. She always had this problem, she got so consumed in combat that she'd almost take joy in it. Not the killing. The adrenaline, the saving people and stopping the bad guy. She almost felt sorry for lying to them. <em>Almost<em>. In fairness it was only a little white lie. She had guns. She had a few, maybe five but they were her nephews life insurance policy and if this camp turned out to be a bust she couldn't walk away having given them her weapons.

G shouted and she heard a muffled panicked voice but she didn't look. She couldn't, if she took her eyes off this guys for a second then something might go down. It was only when she heard the click that she realised someone was higher up than her and had a gun pointed at her. She watched both sides back away and sighed, glancing a Kyle to make sure he was okay.

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Daryl led the gagged boy back into the building after the guns had been divided. Ava stalked behind them trying to keep her thoughts from Kyle, who'd she'd hidden back in the gap in the building with their bag of modest belonging and hidden guns with the instructions to wait for her.  
>They moved it and were instantly surrounded, Ava was stood at the back, watching the scene unfold gun raised. A few of the men gave her a mocking looks, a few others leered at her, the only ones she felt threatened by were the men with guns. They were few and far between though and mostly weren't holding them properly.<br>"They're not yours." Rick stated boldly.  
>Ava stood solid between Daryl and T-Dog as G threatened to chop Glenn up and feed him to his dogs. Ava glanced around quickly before focusing again, she hated having dogs set on her. Before she'd joined the Army, she used to have a neighbour that would let them chase her. In all honestly it was probably why she was in such good shape when she did decide to join.<p>

Possibly the weirdest thing that could happen at that moment did, an elderly lady out from the back shouting for the bald guy near them.  
>"Get that old lady out ah the line of fire." Daryl snapped. After saying something about someone's medication the old lady advanced on them, though only Rick lowered his weapon.<br>"Who are those men?" She shuffled towards them and looked at Ava, "Are these your friends dear?"  
>Ava blinked twice and looked at the bald man who seemed to encourage with his eyes, "Errm yes?"<br>She seemed to accept it and moved to stand in front of Rick, "Have you come to take him? He is a good boy! He has his troubles but he'll pull himself together, we need him here."

"Mam," Rick started, "I'm not here to arrest your grandson."  
>"Then what do you want?"<br>"He's helping us find a missing person, a fella named Glenn." Rick said after a minute of thinking.  
>She smiled, "He's with Mr. Gilman, come come I show you."<p>

They followed her outside and before they headed into a different building Daryl was scanning the roofs for any sneak attacked. He caught sight of a small face looking back at him and upon squinting realised it was Kyle, it must have been the far back of where he was hiding. Making sure no one saw him Daryl pressed a finger to his lips and saw the little boys hair move as he guessed he was nodding. Ava turned slightly to make sure Daryl and T-Dog hadn't been caught when she caught Daryl's action and turned back and winked at the man in front of her who had turned to see what they were both looking at. The wink made him pause and watch her as she gave him a soft smile and bit the corner of her lip. At least if he was leering at her, he wasn't going to find her nephew.

Daryl saw her action and scowled, she'd battered her eyes lashes and the guy had fell for it. He'd have to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't sway Rick or Shane's mind on anything, Everyone only listened to them and no one needed this stranger being in charge.

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Rick was an idiot. There, Ava had made up her mind. It was sweet, the group of men protecting the old and abandoned but he had given away a lot of the guns they'd gone for. But Ava chose not to say anything, she still had hers. She her Army backpack filled with her and Kyle's things as they walked hand in hand to where the men said they had a van but it had gone. Of course it had, what a fucking day.

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They ran, what else could they do? It was getting dark after they'd been running for a while and while she was trained Kyle couldn't keep up. She had smiled at him and told him to hold on and she lifted him put over her shoulder and ran with him and the bag. She was proud he was still able to run this far, even if it was slowly, he was only eight! After a while of this they had to stop. Ava doubled over before straightening herself out and getting ready to start again. Her whole body ached, she was getting too old for this. She knew she looked a mess; a tired, sweaty mess.

Rick stepped in front of them and told Kyle to jump on his back and with their consent they ran like this for a while. Until they heard the screaming.

Kyle sprung off of Rick's back and ran to Ava who quickly turned to him, "You stay next to me." She ordered and his nodded as they ran faster, this time with Kyle on his own feet.

They burst into a camp site and Ava ran ahead of the men, with them shooting at the walkers that approached her and pulled Kyle with her as they moved to a group moving back to an RV with a board man with a gun at the front protecting them. She ran to them and thrust Kyle into the arms on a thin, short haired woman who was holding a screaming girl.  
>"Hold onto him!" She shouted above the screaming and the death at the women who both looked terrified and nodded as Ava slipped the rifle off of her should and standing shoulder to shoulder with the man protecting the small group began to take down the walkers with military precision. She breathed slowly and blew away all the undead fuckers she good.<p>

And like that it was over. No more walkers, nor more danger. Just Rick holding who Ava assumed were he sobbing wife and screaming child. Ava slowly lowered her gun, ignoring the look the guy beside her gave her and crouched down next to the thin woman to detangle Kyle from her arms. At first she resisted, screaming think Ava was walker until she calmed and looked and let the small boy sob in his aunt's embrace.

\/

Morning came soon enough and Ava stretched from her seated position on the floor of the RV in the aftermath of last night and old man with wild eyebrows had introduced himself as Dale and told her to put Kyle down with Carl and Sophia in the RV. She'd thanked him and introduced the pair of them and stayed up all night guarding the RV from the inside. As light filtered in through the windows she checked on the kids and stepped out into the hot sun as Daryl swung in pickaxe down into some poor bastards head.  
>"Sleeping beauty." He sneered at her.<br>"Hick." She snapped back stepping towards Glenn and slipping a pistol in the back of her waist band.  
>"Daryl, the young lady was up all night looking after the children." Dale scolded from his position next to Carol and Lori, before turning on her, "Maybe you should try and get some sleep."<br>"No thank you, I'd rather help out here." She told him politely as she took her hunting knife from her leg holder. Glenn and T-Dog moved the body onto the fire while Daryl moved off to the next one calling for her to hurry her ass up over his shoulder.

She was stopped by the two women who she had thrown Kyle too last night as they beckoned her over to them, the board man she had shot side by side with was also sat with them as Rick approached.  
>The brunette woman started, "We just wanted to thank you, for everything you did to help last night."<br>The other woman gave her a small smile and nodded, her eyes tearing up.  
>Ava looked at the awkwardly, she'd avoided interactions with people when they were all alive now it was even more awkward, "Don't worry about it."<br>"You a hell of a shot." The board man commented.  
>Ava nodded, "You're not too bad either."<p>

"So how'd you get here?" the man asked.  
>Rick stepped in, "She gave us a lot of help in Atlanta."<br>"Ava Summers. Yeah I was promised security." Ava mumbled bitterly. The other members quickly introduced herself.  
>"For you and your boy? Anyone else?" Shane asked.<br>"He's my nephew," Ava corrected looking at her shoes, "There may be someone else yet, I haven't found him yet."  
>"Your husband?" Lori asked.<br>"Boyfriend."  
>"D'ya get separated or something?" Shane asked.<br>Ava scowled and resisted the urge to snap at them, "He wanted to go set up a safe place, I wanted to go find my nephew. Excuse me." Ava turned on her heel and left to help Daryl.

She found him a little way a way swinging his pick axe high. They worked in silence for a while until they destroyed the heads of the bodies around them and they both lay their weapons down and began to lift bodies between them to carry them to either the fire or to the pile to be buried.  
>"So you ran away to find your nephew?" Daryl asked and Ava gave him a quizzical look before it clicked.<br>"Were you listening in on my conversation Dixon?"  
>"Ain't no such thing as privacy no more."<br>"Whats it to you?"  
>"Trying to figure out why you're such a bitch."<br>Daryl paused when Ava laughed loudly and honestly at his comment and found himself smirking at her as she shook her head, "Nah that's just my personality. Yours isn't much better."  
>Daryl snorted, "Your accent may make you should posh but you aint."<br>She smirked, "Never said I was and I wouldn't want to be if it meant I shoot as bad as I saw last night."  
>They threw the last of the bodies into the fire and he stepped towards her, "You ain't that good a shot, don't get cocky or them fuckers'll be on your ass."<br>Ava smirked at him amused, "Well we both know I am, and my ass is none of your business."  
>She sauntered off to check on her nephew in the RV.<br>Daryl shook his head at her retreating form, "Fucking bitch."

Ava was in the RV when she heard shouting about Jim getting bitten, she sighed and gently brushed Kyle's hair behind his ear as he, Sophia and Carl shot her scared looks. She gave them a soft smile, the best she could muster on the spot.  
>"Is my daddy going to Hell?" Sophia asked out of nowhere and Ava glanced nervously between the children.<br>"Why would you say that sweetie?" Ava asked as she watched the small girl play with her doll.  
>"Bad people go to Hell and he got bitten." She mumbled.<p>

Ava gnawed on her lip, she'd heard people discussing the girl's father, a real brute by all accounts but she couldn't _say _to the child. Kyle spoke before she could gather her thoughts, "My parents aren't in Hell."  
>Sophia looked nervous, "But –"<br>"They're not!" Kyle shouted as he jumped up, scaring the little girl. Sophia jumped up like she wanted to run away until Ava stood, hooked one arm around her nephew and another around her and pulled them back into her lap into her arms, feeling both of them being to sob.

"Now both of you listen to me yeah? No one is in Hell. Yes they're gone and we'll miss them dearly but now they get to sleep in peace, okay? You two and Carl," here Carl came to sit beside them and she widened her arms for him to fit, "you've got everyone here looking after you. Okay?" She felt three heads nod against her.

They sat like this for a while, Ava being to feel awkward, she had only been close to her brother, his wife, Kyle and her boyfriend but she would have to deal with it, for their sake. She gently stroked their hair as she listened to Daryl starting a fight outside. She'd been offered safety and given this. The door to the RV swung open and Daryl appeared, snarling, "Gettin' off your ass to help or what?"  
>She glanced down at the children, Carl and Sophia asleep and Kyle not willing to move, "I'm a little busy."<br>He sneered at her, "Really fucking looks like it."  
>Ava turned and gently lowered the children onto the bed as she approached the hunter until they were toe-to-toe and hissed at him, "What the fuck is your problem Dixon? I'm sorry for what happened to your brother but don't come in here and upset those children more than they already are."<p>

He looked back and seemed to notice the slumbering children for the first time before stalking out of the RV. Ava scowled and followed him, checking she had her pistol and her knife she followed him. The pair strode past Dale, Lori, Rick, Shane and Carol, while Daryl carried on to the edge of camp Ava stopped in front of them. They looked at her quizzically when she walked up to them, "Carl and Sophia are with Kyle in the RV having a rest, they were bit upset but they should be okay now."  
>Ava went to continue walking when Carol's panicked voice stopped her, "Upset, are they okay?"<br>"I think everything that's happened just caught up with them, they're fine now." Ava assured her and tried to avoid Shane's leering gazes, "I'm going to help Dixon with the bodies."

Carol and Lori left for the RV and Shane stepped forwards and caught Ava's wrist, which she snatched away quickly and raised as a fist before she realised what she was doing and lowered her hand sheepishly.  
>"You always this jumpy?" Dale asked as he tried to gauge the young woman.<br>"Couldn't take chances with people that were hidden in the city." She explained simply.  
>Rick put his hands on his hips, "You saw her last night when we got back, she has no problem with pressure." Rick walked off and Dale followed him but kept an eye on Shane and Ava.<br>Shane smirked at her, "Why don't you come help me dig the pits?"  
>Ava scowled, "I told Dixon I'd help him with the bodies, nobody else seems to have the stomach for it."<br>Shane leant closer to her and Ava narrowed her eyes. He was someone she would usually go for, thick set and a bit dangerous but this wasn't a world where she could be chasing people or being chased. This was survival. Shane's voice was deep, "Dixon can handle himself."

Ava glared at him and turned to walk away, calling over her shoulder, "Keep thinking like that and one day you'll let someone get killed.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Ava reached Daryl he had already finished destroying the brains of the bodies and was beginning to divide them between Walkers and the human dead, it wasn't too hard considering the Walkers were mostly rotted.  
>Daryl sneered when he spotted her, "Sorry Princess, you have something better ta do?"<br>"Yes, putting that cop Shane into his place if I get chance." Ava mumbled, more to herself, as she slipped a set of gloves back on and caught Daryl's smirk at her comment.  
>"They're talking about going to the CDC," Ava started slowly, "What do you think about it all?"<br>"Stupid idea if you ask me, going into the city after medicine."  
>Ava pursed her lips, "Yeah, I heard your argument about someone called Jim when I was in the RV."<br>Daryl sneered at her as they lifted the next body, "Suppose you think we should cuddle him better too?"  
>Ava shook her head as they carried the body towards the fire, "No but we should quarantine him, not kill him. It's a downwards slop from there."<br>Daryl gave her a disgusted look as they dropped the body in the fire, the heat licking at her skin. He shook his head at her, "We? Y'all only been here a night and ya governing us?"  
>Ava smirked to herself as she shook her head, she knew this camp was a bad idea, "You asked for my opinion and I gave it you, don't like it then don't ask next time."<p>

Daryl shook his head, "It's rich comin' from someone who used to kill people for a living."  
>Ava shook her head lightly, "How else would I know it's all downhill from there?"<br>They worked in silence for the rest of the bodies before Ava wiped her knife on a rag and slipped off her gloves as she made her way back to the centre of camp.  
>"Aunt Ava!" Kyle smiled as he ran towards her. He was wearing a clean set of clothes and his hair had been cut, his face was clean and out in the open air he seemed a lot healthier than just a night ago.<br>Ava caught him as he ran at her and swung him up to hug him and hold him in the air. He squirmed when Daryl passed the pair just as Ava was kissing his cheek, Kyle wiped his cheek and pulled a face as his aunt put him down, he had far too much manly pride for an eight year old.  
>"Who cut your hair?" Ava asked as she gently ruffled his hair.<br>"Carol did it and Shane says we can ride in his car, it's a jeep like Uncle Paul used to have!" He rushed excited.  
>Ava poked his nose slightly as they continued back into the centre of camp, "Oh that was very nice of them, did you remember your manners?"<br>Kyle crossed his arms and purses his lips like his dad used up, "Of course I did."  
>Ava nudged his playfully, "Good boy, why don't you go play with Carl?"<br>The pair came to Carol, Lori and Sophia, Carl was sat with wet cheeks gently stroking her daughters hair while Lori leant forwards with her forehead resting on her hands.  
>Kyle ran to Carol and Sophia, "Sophia do you want to come find Carl with me?"<br>Sophia looked up at her mother and with her approval the pair ran off.  
>"I'm going to keep an eye on them." Lori mumbled striding after them.<p>

"Thank you for looking after Kyle for me Carol." Ava thanked her as she sat beside her.  
>"It was the least I can do." Carol replied honestly.<br>"Could I ask you a favour?" Ava untied her dirty blonde hair and let it fall down by her back, "Would you please cut mine?"  
>Carol gave her a soft smile and went to get her scissors from her bag while Ava sat on the ground. Carol came back and sat on the log behind her and brushed through Ava's hair slowly.<p>

()()

Ava dropped her discarded locks into the fire after Lori had given her a hard look because apparently hair on the ground is as important as the woman weeping over her lost sister near the RV. Upon seeing the dead blonde girl Ava had banned Kyle from going near there and she didn't care who had heard or if she'd hurt their feelings, Kyle was her priority.

Hearing the ground crunch behind her, Ava turned and gave Shane a levelled look, "Do you need anything?"  
>"Nice do." He nodded towards her hair that now stopped at her shoulders.<br>Ava gave him a small amused smile and flicked her hair childishly, "Its all the range."  
>He gave a deep chuckle, "You and Kyle are gonna be the jeep with me."<br>"So I've been told," Ava mumbled as she watched Kyle and Carl try to encourage Sophia to kick the ball with them.  
>When she turned back Shane was closer than before and Ava resisted the urge to step back, mostly because the fire and the smell of her charred hair was behind her.<br>"It's gonna take us a few days ta get to the CDC, we're gonna hav ta camp out on the way. I've got space for you and your boy in my tent." He offered as he leant towards her slightly, there was still a large gap between them but Ava felt cornered. Domination rolled off of him in waves and Ava chewed her bottom lip, why couldn't see have met him before the zombies and before she had to think about keeping her nephew alive, when they could have had a quick, fun time between the sheets before going their separate ways.  
>"That would be great, thank you." Ava gave him a grateful smile and tried to not think about Shane's broad chest or Daryl's arms or how long it had been since she'd had sexual gratification. She mentally scolded herself, sex wasn't a pleasure she could afford today.<p>

She strode over to Dale who was watching Andrea leant over her sister, "I'll take over watch."  
>Dale looked unconvinced.<br>Ava gave him a hard look, "If you want then you can get someone to watch me on watch, I think you need to be with her." Ava jerked her thumb in Andrea's direction.

Dale relented and gave her his gun as she climbed to the top of the RV. Not too long after she heard a growl and a sobbing Andrea pull the trigger. Ava left her to it. With no concept of time in the new world Ava assumed she had an hour of peace surveying the surroundings through the scope of the gun before Rick's voice disturbed her.  
>"I see you're throwing yourself into the jobs."<br>Ava peeked down over the top of the RV to see Rick looking up at her from under his hat and Daryl glaring up at her, "Can I help you gentlemen?"  
>"You can come down, we're going to bury our people." Rick motioned for her to come down.<br>"I'm fine here." Ava gave him a soft smile.  
>Rick's brow knotted, "But we need to say goodbye."<br>"Rick with all due respect, they're_ your_ people not mine. Wouldn't it be better if I stayed on watch? We don't want to lose anymore." Ava told him as she rested the gun on top of the RV.  
>Daryl nodded as he chewed his thumb nail, "Let 'er stay up there."<br>Ava gave him a sharp nod of thanks and sat back on the roof out of their sight before Rick could protest. Ava kept an eye on the burial to make sure Kyle was safe, he was stood with Carol who held both him and Sophia to her.

()()()()()

Ava swung her back pack over her shoulder and nudged the back of Kyle's head playfully as they approached Shane's jeep.  
>"Hi Daryl." Kyle chirped as the pair walked by his truck.<br>Daryl gave him a nod of acknowledgement and went back to watching Rick give Morales a gun and ammunition.  
>"We're going in Shane's jeep." Kyle tried to engage him again.<br>Daryl spared him a look, "Oh yeah?"  
>Kyle nodded happily, "My uncle used to have one and he used to let me sit on his knee and steer."<br>By the look Daryl was giving Kyle, Ava guessed the older man wasn't used to children and their relentless questions. Daryl chewed his thumb, "Not a good idea now."

Kyle puffed out his cheeks and gave Daryl a defiant look, "Why not? I can do it."  
>Daryl shook his head slightly and leaned down to be face to face with the boy, "'cus then whose gonna be makin' sure your Aunt ain't causin' no trouble?"<br>Kyle smiled happily and ran off to Shane's jeep. Ava puffed her cheeks slightly like her nephew had done, "I don't cause trouble."  
>Daryl motioned to Shane who stood not too far away watching their conversation, "See ya got your claws in quick."<br>Ava pursed her lips, "Fuck you Dixon." She snapped and turned to walk away.  
>"Y'all wish." He smirked as he jumped into his truck.<p>

Ava smiled when she saw Kyle jumping excitably in the back seat. Shane stood with his hands on his hips and gutted his chin in Daryl's direction, "What was all that about?"  
>Ava pushed her backpack in the back next to Kyle, "Just Daryl being charming."<br>Shane let out a laugh that came out more of a grunt and jumped into the front seat looking back at Kyle, "You ready buddy?"  
>"Can I drive later?" Kyle asked but scowled when the adults up front began to laugh at him.<p>

()()()()()()()()()()

The group drove in a convoy, surprisingly loud against the silence of the dead world. Ava looked into the back seat to see Kyle's head bobbing up and down as he fought to stay awake. Shane chuckled as he watched the boy in the rear view mirror, "I didn't realise we were that boring."  
>Ava shook her head slightly, her hair blowing around her face in the wind, "I used to be the fun auntie."<br>After a moment of Ava trying and failing to hold her hair back, Shane smirked as he slipped his cap off and slipped it onto Ava's head so that her hair stopped from blowing around. She shook her head slightly feeling the space in the hat from Shane's head being larger than hers and the police officer smirked at her.  
>"Thank you." She gave him as smile as the convey stopped abruptly. Ava woke Kyle and the three slipped out the jeep to the front of the RV.<br>"It's more duct tape than anything else." Dale lectured at the front of the smoking RV, "And I'm out of duct tape."  
>"There's something up ahead," Shane told them looking through the binoculars, "Gas station if we're lucky."<br>Jackie slipped out of the RV, "Y'all, Jim it's bad!"  
>Shane decided to scout ahead and T-Dog offered to join him, "Y'all keep your eyes open now, we'll be right back."<br>Ava slipped off the hat and handed it back to Shane as he walked by, Shane looked over the cap in his hands before putting it back on his head since he doubted this woman would let him argue. Ava turned to go back to the RV and paused when she noticed the looks she was getting from the Grimes couple. Rick look amused, like he was resisting the urge to waggle his eyebrows at the exchange while Lori looked like she wanted to rip of the other woman's face. Ava raised a brow at both, she'd like to see Lori actually try anything, she wouldn't get far.

Ava leant of Daryl's truck in the shade while they waited for Shane and T-Dog to come back. Glenn approached her nervously, quietly clearing his throat a few times.  
>"Is there something you needed?" Ava asked him.<br>"Erm I think Kyle wanted to stay with Carl in the RV for the rest of the trip." Glenn mumbled and Ava looked around the young man to see Carl and Kyle watching her expectantly.  
>"Well if Kyle wants to do that then he should ask himself, but this time I'll let him off." Kyle high fived Carl and the pair went to try and convince Lori and Rick that Carl could stay in the RV too. Ava gave Glenn a small smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder as she walked by him, "Don't be scared, I promise I don't bite."<br>"Yeah like I believe that these days." Glenn muttered and Ava laughed to herself. 

"What you laughin' at?" Daryl asked as Ava walked by him.  
>"Glenn, he's a funny guy. How come you always happen to be where I am?" Ava asked as she folded her arms and leant against the RV next to him.<br>Daryl ignored her question, "What happened to your hair?"  
>"I'm going for a new look for this season." Ava smirked as Daryl shook his head, seemingly annoyed with her antics.<br>"Well you asked." Ava murmured to herself.  
>"How's ya kid been?"<br>Ava cast a look over him, trying to gauge if it was a honest interest, "I think traveling has taken it out of him, he wanted to stay with people his own age for the rest of the way."  
>"Ah'd get sick of lookin' at the cops face too." Daryl grumbled and Ava held back her laugh as she gave him an amused smile.<br>After a moment Daryl gave her a look, "Do ya'll need help cleanin' ya guns?"  
>Ava didn't miss a beat, "I'm fine, I only have the one."<br>Daryl shook his head slightly, "Bullshit, ah know ya've got guns, ah'm not an idiot but if ya don't know how ta clean them then they'll be no use."  
>Ava frowned slightly, "Oh course I know how but if you knew why didn't you say anything?"<br>"Ah wouldn't share mine and there only me now." Daryl shrugged.  
>Ava gave him a soft smile as she noticed Jim being lead from the RV, "I'm sorry about what happened to your brother."<br>Daryl just nodded. 


	5. Chapter 5

Had two hours of people telling me how terrible my writing is today so I needed to enjoy writing something again, and who wouldn't enjoy some Daryl?

After Shane and T-Dog returned the group said their goodbyes to Jim.  
>"Hanging in there?" Ava asked as she approached the sheriff Deputy, he wore the last few days of exhaustion but still gave her a soft smile as she approached.<br>"Something like that." He mumbled, his hands finding his hips like always.  
>"How long do you think it'll take us to get to the CDC?" Ava asked him as she glanced around the open spaces behind Rick.<br>He adjusted his hat and gave her a long suffering sigh, "A few days, we're going around the long way in case a lot of walkers followed Glenn in the sports car."  
>Ava ignored the reference to the sports car, undoubtedly something stupid the group had done, "But I thought we were running low on petrol?"<br>Rick gave her a look, "Petrol?"  
>Ava clicked her fingers and tried to think of the word her sister-in-law used to use before she became a flesh-eating monster, "Gas."<br>Rick nodded, "We are, with any hope we'll find something to keep us going."  
>Ava rolled her eyes slightly as she turned to walk back to the back of the convoy, "And with any hope all the walkers will change their diets and go vegetarian as well."<br>Rick scowled at her retreating form as the young woman slipped into the jeep next to Shane before gesturing for convoy to start.

\/

They'd been driving for a while when then passed an abandoned looking house on the edge of the woods, the RV veered off into the woods and about a mile in the RV stopped and the cars parked in a circle with it to form a perimeter. Shane slipped out the jeep and he, Dale and Glenn began to set up a tin can perimeter, should anything attempt to get too close to them.  
>Rick approached Ava as she was sticking her head into the RV to check on Kyle, who was with Carl and Sophia being taught a card game.<br>"Daryl and I are gonna check the perimeter, make sure the coast is completely clear," Rick told her, "Will you keep watch until Dale gets back?"  
>"Happy too, I'm not good for much else." Ava gave him a soft smile and took the sniper rifle and binoculars from Rick and climbed up to the top of the RV. <p>

After the men had been gone a while, Ava looked down at the sound of Lori sighing loudly.  
>"Problem?" Ava asked.<br>Lori stuck her hands on her hips, "Just wondering if you're actually going to do anything today?"  
>"I'm busy, if you want an extra hand go get Andrea out the RV." Ava told her.<br>Lori gave her a horrified look and hissed, "She's just lost her sister."  
>"Well I'm protecting your ass, and your sons. Can you shoot?" Ava asked her.<br>Lori stammered, "Well , I-I –"  
>"I said can you shoot?" Ava snapped.<br>"No." Lori huffed.  
>"Well when you can come back and we'll swap jobs, okay? Or better yet why don't you stop pretending that making the camp 'homely' is a priority."<br>"I'm trying to make things normal for the children."  
>"Yeah normal until a dead guy comes up and eats their face because the person that should have been on watch was ironing clothes. Now piss off."<br>Lori huffed, her cheeks flushing an angry red as she spun on her heel and stormed off, shouting for Carl to stay in RV.  
>The men came back in trickles and Dale climbed up to the top of the RV, "I can take you off now."<br>"I'm fine for a while, it's not like I have a tent to put up." Ava smirked as she rose so that Dale could take the chair.  
>"I hear you and your boy are sharing with Shane?" Dale asked, he looked slightly worried.<br>"Yeah we are, he says he's got room." Ava offered with a shrug.  
>"With Amy being…with her being gone I'm sure there'd be room for you two on the chairs or to bunk on the floor?" Dale offered and Ava gave him a sad smile.<br>"Thank you for your offer but I'll have to get back to you on that. Kyle is seems excited about it and I'd like to check out the state of the tent first."  
>"Whatever you think best." Dale gave her a smile as she stepped down from the top of the Rv and entered it where Rick was sat with the children.<br>"Everything okay in here?" Ava asked.  
>"Yes everything is fine," Rick said standing, he took his hat from Carl's head and gestured to Ava to follow him out of the RV.<br>"I thought everything was fine." Ava asked when they stood outside the RV and Rick placed his hands on his hips.  
>"We need someone to go to house we passed on the way in and look for supplies." Rick told her, his expression grave.<br>"And what? You want me to go?" Ava asked, eyebrow raised.  
>"Not alone, Daryl is going hunting around the area anyway but I don't want him to go alone in case he runs into trouble." Rick mumbled, "I don't want to ask –"<br>"Then don't," Ava interrupted, "What if the camp runs into trouble while I'm gone? Who will look after Kyle?"  
>Rick shook his head lightly as Lori, Shane, Daryl, Glenn and Dale approached them roused by Ava's expression, "We'll look after him."<br>"Like you looked after Amy?" Ava asked, tucking her hands into her pockets and ignoring the venomous look that Lori was giving her.  
>"We fucked up, we got too relaxed, it won't happen again." Shane reasoned.<br>"Look, he's not your responsibility so why would you look after him if I was go look at this house?"  
>"Because you're both part of the group now." Rick told her, his kind eyes imploring her to consider the dangerous task. He hadn't wanted to ask her but, as Lori, had pointed out, she could shoot.<p>

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the group, "Ah don need no fuckin' help."  
>"Daryl this isn't up for negotiation, we're vulnerable, we <em>need <em>to stick together." Rick scolded and Daryl scowled at him.  
>Ava looked up at Dale, who looked about ready to burst at the idea of two of the groups best fighters leaving on a whim, "I'll go, with the condition that Kyle stays in the RV and if he steps foot out of it, he'll have someone with him."<br>Dale nodded his head, "Of course he can, the offer was open anyway."  
>"And we'll keep an eye on your boy." Shane told her laying a large paw on her shoulder which she moved away from and told Daryl she'd be ready to leave in five minutes.<br>Ava approached the RV with her and Kyle's bags in her hand and when entering put them underneath the table.  
>"So what you're moving in now?" Andrea asked from her position on the bed and Kyle glanced up from his book, looking back down when Ava gave him.<br>"Kyle is, at least until I'm back. Do you mind?" Ava hinted towards the door and Andrea rose with a heavy sigh, "No of course don't mind me."  
>Ava slipped into the seat next to her nephew and smiled when she saw him put down him book and fix her with the hard stare her brother used to give her when she did something stupid. "Are you leaving?"<br>Ava pushed his hair back slightly, he looked so mature right now, "I am, but I'm coming back. I have to go out and find food. Just like in Atlanta remember? You've gotta stay in here, in the RV, until I get back."  
>"When will that be?"<br>"As soon as I can." Ava told him, "Your bag is under the table I've put a gun in it, if anything happens, if any walkers show up then you take the gun and you protect yourself, you hear me?"  
>Kyle nodded and Ava kissed the top of his head.<p>

/\

Since there was no preservation of time, other than Dale's watch, Ava could only guess how long they'd been away. To her it felt like she and Daryl had been walking for a few hours, she felt the familiar sting of an old injury at the top of her leg from running from Atlanta to the Campsite and the subsequent fight, walking on it was certainly not helping.  
>"You having fun dawdling back there, princess?" Daryl drawled at her about ten feet ahead of her.<br>"Up yours Dixon." Ava snapped as she passed her hunting knife over to her left hand and rubbed just under the hip of her right where the scar ached from over use. Daryl turned to look at her and scowled, "You can massage yourself later girly, we gotta find this house before ah can get us dinner."  
>"You get us dinner?" Ava asked, "What do you intend me to do? Go back to camp and wait for you to bring it?"<br>"Ya'll too loud for hunting." Daryl shrugged as they began to approach the house from the back.  
>"So why wasn't it <em>you<em> that heard me sneaking around in Atlanta?" Ava smirked as they came to a stop in front of a wooden fence taller than both them.  
>Daryl ignored her question and inspected the fence, he shook his head and gestured for her following round to the front of the house on the roadside they had driven down earlier. Daryl kept his crossbow raised and Ava kept her hunting knife drawn, they were too open out here.<br>Following the hunters lead, Ava crept into the back garden, trying to ignore the children's garden furniture as they inspected the back door. It was made of glass.  
>"We could break it but it could draw unwanted attention but picking the lock could take too long, I'd need a smaller knife too." Ava mumbled as Daryl inspected the small lock.<br>"Ya can pick locks?" Daryl asked her, almost amused.  
>"I had adventurous teenage years," She smirked.<br>Daryl narrowed his eyes in slight amusement and picking up a thick rock from a plant pot next to him he smashed the window with it and lifting up his crossbow he stepped over the broken glass and into the house, "Yah weren't the only one." He told her when he heard her follow him into the house.  
>They both advanced up the stairs and at the top went separate ways with two rooms to cover each. Ava pushed the door open slowly her knife steady in her hand. She stepped into the bathroom and quickly checked behind the shower curtain, relived when she found nothing there. She opened the medicine cabinet and upon seeing boxes of painkillers, tooth pastes and a first aid kit amongst other things, she opened her bag up and swept the contents of the cabinet into it.<p>

After securing her bag shut and holding out her knife in front of her, Ava advanced to the next room but upon seeing the child's decorating, the English woman simply checked it was free of walkers before closing it again.  
>Hearing a noise on the wind, Ava crept downstairs, her eyes glancing over the mess they'd made when they'd broken and made sure nothing had wondered in. Ava followed the noise, her knife raised high. Her heart was beating in her ears and she swallowed around the dry lump in her throat. Her stomach quivered with excitement but her hand was steady as a surgeons. She'd missed this. The thrill of the fight. Adrenaline. Heart pounding, fighting for yourself and the person beside you. In her haste she rushed into the room, knife up in defence and stopped herself when she saw the crossbow aimed at her.<br>"What ya doin' creepin' bout?" Daryl snapped at her putting the crossbow back on the kitchen counter. Ava stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind her. She stabbed her knife into the kitchen table so it stayed upright and gave Daryl a coy smirk as she dropped her bag next to her knife, "And here's you saying that I'm too loud."  
>He glared at her but continued to pack cans into his bag and Ava saw the rolled up blankets at the bottom of the bag that he must have taken from one of the bedrooms.<br>"I've got more room in my bag, no need to overfill yours." Ava suggested as she began to check the cupboards on the other side of the room.  
>"On that leg, I don't think so." Daryl mumbled as pulled some pans out of the back of a cupboard.<br>"How did you know about that?" Ava asked, not denying it.  
>"Your tracks," He gestured to her feet, "Your right print isn't as solid, so you're trying not to put all your weight on it, what happened?"<br>"That's pretty amazing." Ava gave him an honest smile at his intelligence, "I got shot."  
>He nodded seeming to take that information in, "Life's a bitch."<br>"Ain't it just." Ava smirked as she took the pans from beside him and put them into her bag before Daryl could protest. They worked in silence for a while and divided up the forty cans of canned food, the pans, utensils, a pack of matches and the antiseptic hand wash they found. When they'd finished they glanced out the window to see the sky beginning to darken.  
>"We can go hunting tomorrow, we have enough to get us through for now, we shouldn't be out at night." Ava told him.<br>"Ah'll be fine, you can head back and Ah'll go hunting on mah own, ah don't need yah there." He mumbled tightening his bag shut.  
>"Safety in numbers," Ava almost sang at him, smirked at the look of annoyance of his face, "Besides, imagine the kind Officers' faces if I came back without you."<br>Daryl let out a dark chuckle, "Imagine their faces if they knew how much you wanted me to be a walker."  
>"Is that a bad thing?" Ava crossed her arms, instantly on the defence.<br>Daryl snorted, "That shit'll kept yah alive." He stepped over and pulled at the straps on her bag to make sure she'd done them right, ignoring the annoyed glare Ava shot him for his actions. Daryl turned to her and opened his mouth to speak up quickly shut it, putting a dirty finger to his lips and with his other hand grabbed Ava's upper arm and pulled her to the floor with him. She let out a hiss as her shoulder hit the counter and Daryl's large paw covered her mouth. Then she heard it. The unmistakable bang against the window.  
>Ava pried his fingers away from her mouth and leaned into his side to whisper into his ear, "Human or walker?"<br>"Walker." He breathed, his lips barely moving.  
>"How many?"<br>"Two that ah could see."

Almost on cue, something was knocked over outside of the kitchen door, near where they themselves had broken in. A groan. Another.  
>"That's four." She whispered as she began to slowly move away from him, and taking the hint he moved slowly. They both stood and tied their backpacks on, ignoring the heightened growls of the Walker outside that clawed at the window now it saw its prey again. Daryl had his crossbow trained at the door when it nudged open slightly.<br>Ava pulled her knife out of the table and spun it around in her hand until she felt comfortable. Ready. She took the lead, one foot in front of the other and when the door nudged open again she yanked it towards her and ploughed her knife between the eyes of the walker that fell towards her snarling. She pushed the corpse off her and kicked it away. She was about to step into hallway when another came at her grasping. Growling.  
>The body fell with an arrow in its before Ava could swing her knife up. She pulled the arrow out of its head and passed it back to the redneck.<br>"We know there's at least two more out there. Four might be a coincidence but I think guns are a bad idea for now, unless it gets too much." Ava reasoned as one of the walkers from outside stumbled into over the broken glass towards them. Ava rolled the knife around in her hand and when the walker got close enough she sliced out at the air, decapitating it. The duo left the still animated head in favour of fleeing. Daryl shot the walker at the window and it fell with a thumb. They ran out into the main road, both ready for a fight but both stopped short.

At least twelve walkers turned to face them. Snarling. Grasping. Rotting. Daryl and Ava began to walk backwards, both pairs of boots heavy on the tarmac.  
>"Theres probably more, we can't shoot." Ava hissed and raised her knife in defence. The walkers began to advanced faster. She'd seen their speed before in Atlanta. In a group they're be overwhelmed if they didn't act now.<br>Ava grasped his wrist as and yanked, so that he'd follow and the pair began to run back the way that they had driven earlier that day.  
>"We have to keep them away from camp." She told him as they ran. They diverted off into the trees when Daryl pushed towards the woodland. She could hear them behind the pair still but the solider and the hunter where faster. More used to the terrain. They jumped over the large roots and kept their footing in the sludge as they burst through the foliage. They ran until there were only four left following them. Daryl spun, raised his bow and shot three in quick succession and Ava threw her knife, hitting the walker in forehead. They gathered there weapons from the walkers, both being silent as to listen for others.<p>

"We have to get back to camp and get us all out the woods." Ava huffed as she subconsciously rubbed the top of her leg where her scar reached out like a starfish, "How do we even find camp?"  
>Daryl shook his head and pointed at the almost night sky, "We're not looking for camp, now we just need to get up high for tonight."<br>"I _have _to get back to Kyle." Ava tried to Daryl scowled at her.  
>"Yah don't really have a choice. We go out in the dark we'll end up just getting ourselves turned round. Last thing we need is to be taking walkers back to camp with us." Daryl reasoned.<br>"Fine." Ava snapped, seeing his logic. She shot him one last glare before slipping past him. "That house couldn't have been the only thing out here, lets see what we can find. If there's nothing we'll just have to stay in a tree for tonight."  
>"You sound like you've done it before." Daryl mumbled as he followed her.<br>"Told you, adventurous teenage years."

\/

The sky flashed with lightening over the cabin. Daryl and Ava remained crouched outside of it. This was their last chance before a night in the trees. It looked like an old log cabin if a lumberjack had to be out for days on end. They approached slowly, leaves crunching under their boots.  
>Ava held the door hand tightly and Daryl stood, bow raised behind her giving her a sharp nod. With a sharp shoulder barge, Ava had the door swing open, Daryl rushed in over her scanning the small area. The pair gagged at the sight of the body. Left, almost open to the elements, the body was bloated and blotchy. He looked to have been a young man, a gun lay on the floor and brains decorated one of the walls.<br>"This wasn't that long ago." Ava told him and ripped a hand towel Daryl had taken from the house and handed him half of it. She tied her own half around her mouth and nose to stop the smell making her gag. Daryl gave the rag a pitiful look and threw it on the single bed where Ava had already put her bag down.  
>Ava shrugged, "You'll regret it when we move him." She warned him. And he did. As soon as the pair moved the body the smell worsened, attacking Daryl's nose, seeping into his skin and sticking to the roof of his mouth. They dumped the body a little way from the cabin and when back inside they barricaded the door with the bed side table and chair they found the body in. It left only the single bed in the cabin which they were both sat in. Ava took the rag Daryl had thrown onto the bed and soaked a corner of it in the anti-bacterial hand wash from the house.<br>"This should help with the smell." Ava offered, holding it out to the redneck who stared at the offering before almost snatching it away and holding it under his nose. Pride be damned. That body was rotten.  
>"Go to sleep, I'll take first watch." Ava told him as she picked up the gun from the floor and sat on the edge of the bed to give Daryl enough space to lay down.<br>"Why? Weren't yah on watch with them kids all last night? Why offer now?" Daryl asked, suspicious.  
>"Don't get your knickers in a twist, hick. You're good with this terrain I'm not. So you need the most sleep because I need you to get me back to my nephew. It's completely selfish reasoning." Ava told him.<p>

Daryl seemed to accept the answer and, after putting his knife under his pillow, he began to fall into an uneasy sleep. He woke once in the night when he heard his bag and flinched when he felt something settle over him. His hand curled around the knife handle under the pillow but he calmed when he heard Ava shh him like she would her nephew and felt her move the blanket to cover his bare arms but not to restrict him. He fell back to sleep for a few hours to prepare for their trek back the next day.


End file.
